“State Change” for procrastinators

We all have numerous times throughout the day where we feel unmotivated. We wake up early, but we feel tired the moment our alarm rings. We should get up and exercise or start our work, but before we start doing anything challenging, we probably don’t want to…

Sounds familiar?
Believe me, we all feel like that, so you are not alone. But how do we still manage to get things done? And how come, some people just seem to get productive within minutes, use their time more efficiently, while others take forever to start a task?
A lot of it has to do with habits, we know that already. (If not, then read my last blogs about “habits” or “consistency”. )

But today’s blog is for the procrastinators, who have difficulty starting the engine!

Sometimes we get caught up in stagnation and give too much attention to how we feel “in the moment”. Even though it is good to” feel” yourself, doing that while trying to escape a responsibility though, is not useful at all.

I am sure you have done a task or workout before, where you did not “feel” like it in the beginning. But once you wake up, put on your clothes, tie the shoes, drink the water, and walk out of the door, get to the gym or on your yoga mat, you notice a change. 10 minutes ago, you felt like you’d absolutely hate it, but now that you have started, it actually isn’t all too bad… Right? Can you recall an experience like that? I am sure you do!

This is called “state change”. We change the state of our emotions by starting to move.

A lot of the motivation happens by doing the action first. Once we are in action, we get inspired by ourselves or the surroundings, and then we feel motivated. And when we are motivated, we will feel like taking actions again. This is a positive cycle.

But sometimes it’s just so hard to “start acting” upon your goal. So here is my tip:

Whenever you do not feel like getting stuff done, remember that all you need is a shift in emotional state. But to achieve that, you need to start. You have to remind yourself, that you’ll feel just fine in a couple of minutes into it! And probably you will even enter a state of flow very soon too!

Don’t take the lazy noise inside your brain too seriously. She is just there to challenge and trick you. But now that you understand the concept of “changing your state”, you won’t be tricked as easily.

Get out there, and try to see if you can observe yourself. Notice this “state change” and remind yourself about it every time you deal with porcrastion. You’ll get it, and become better at this!

Love & light

Eileen